An Agreement of Defeat and Protection

"Mom, please," I whispered as soon as Adrian left the bathroom. "This is our chance. We could both leave this toxic house. You don't have to sacrifice yourself to the Bennetts."

My mother pulled me into the bathroom and closed the door again. Her eyes held the kind of determination I'd seen countless times growing up—the same look she wore when fighting for accommodations for my dyslexia, or when defending Dad from pack gossip.

"Seraphina, listen to me." She gripped my shoulders firmly. "The Bennetts want you. Not me. I'm just the leverage they're using."

"But—"

"No." She shook her head. "Julian is obsessed with possessing you. He engineered this entire situation—your father's imprisonment, our financial ruin—all to break you down."

The truth of her words hit me like a physical blow. I'd known it somewhere deep inside, but hearing her say it made it devastatingly real.